Real life Srv 2003 question...

94jedi94jedi Member Posts: 177
So my company decided to hire a consultant to upgrade a server (DC) at one of our 5 sites. the upgrade consists of simply installing the new server(server 2k3) and removing the old one (Server 2k).

We're currently having a problem where the new server doesn't recognize itself as a DC. The consultant says it's a metadata problem w/ our AD. Personally, I think they just made the mistake of dcpromo'ing up the new DC before demoting the old one. could that be the case? I thought you couldn't have two DC's at one location w/o causing massive issues?

As it stands right now, our main DC in our HQ office is seeing both servers at the site in question as DC's. That can't be right. Two DC's on the same subnet? We do want to keep the old server as a member server for historical purposes.

Thoughts?
HAIL TO THE REDSKINS!!!

Comments

  • meadITmeadIT Member Posts: 581 ■■■■□□□□□□
    You can definitely have two DC's in one subnet. This is how you create redundancy. And he is probably right about the metadata. Let me find you a link.

    Edit: Here you go... http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc736378.aspx

    Edit #2: I originally read it as upgrading the server that was in place. Yes, he should have demoted the previous DC before removing it from the network. That is why the metadata for the old one is still there. Does the new server have the same IP address and hostname as the old one?
    CERTS: VCDX #110 / VCAP-DCA #500 (v5 & 4) / VCAP-DCD #10(v5 & 4) / VCP 5 & 4 / EMCISA / MCSE 2003 / MCTS: Vista / CCNA / CCENT / Security+ / Network+ / Project+ / CIW Database Design Specialist, Professional, Associate
  • 94jedi94jedi Member Posts: 177
    meadIT wrote: »
    You can definitely have two DC's in one subnet. This is how you create redundancy. And he is probably right about the metadata. Let me find you a link.

    Edit: Here you go... Clean up server metadata: Active Directory

    Edit #2: I originally read it as upgrading the server that was in place. Yes, he should have demoted the previous DC before removing it from the network. That is why the metadata for the old one is still there. Does the new server have the same IP address and hostname as the old one?

    Thanks for the link.

    The new server has a different IP and Host name.
    HAIL TO THE REDSKINS!!!
  • 94jedi94jedi Member Posts: 177
    is there any reason then that the new DC wouldn't recognize itself as a DC?
    HAIL TO THE REDSKINS!!!
  • NetAdmin2436NetAdmin2436 Member Posts: 1,076
    I agree with MeadIT. Windows server 2003 are multimasters, so you could have 100 DC's on one subnet if you really wanted.

    It sounds like he or whoever might not have demoted the old DC correctly. Is that DC still around? Maybe he just powered it down. I would check first and ask the consultant what excatly he did. Did the DC have any FSMO roles on it? Did he transfer any of the roles?
    WIP: CCENT/CCNA (.....probably)
  • NetAdmin2436NetAdmin2436 Member Posts: 1,076
    94jedi wrote: »
    is there any reason then that the new DC wouldn't recognize itself as a DC?

    I would run netdiag and dcdiag on the new DC, see if any errors appear.

    Also, take a looky-do at this log file.
    %SystemRoot%\Debug\Dcpromo.log

    Check in DNS that the correct SVR records were created for the new domain controller.

    Also Check event viewer.
    WIP: CCENT/CCNA (.....probably)
  • JBrownJBrown Member Posts: 308
    I agree with MeadIT. Windows server 2003 are multimasters, so you could have 100 DC's on one subnet if you really wanted.

    It sounds like he or whoever might not have demoted the old DC correctly. Is that DC still around? Maybe he just powered it down. I would check first and ask the consultant what excatly he did. Did the DC have any FSMO roles on it? Did he transfer any of the roles?

    First: confirm what NetAdmin23456 said.

    Here is step-by-step how to clean metadata for and old inactive DC from AD

    Delete Failed DCs from Active Directory
  • 94jedi94jedi Member Posts: 177

    Also, take a looky-do at this log file.
    %SystemRoot%\Debug\Dcpromo.log

    is that on the new DC or the old one that I should check?
    HAIL TO THE REDSKINS!!!
  • NetAdmin2436NetAdmin2436 Member Posts: 1,076
    94jedi wrote: »
    is that on the new DC or the old one that I should check?

    For the new DC, check this.
    %SystemRoot%\Debug\Dcpromo.log

    For the demoted DC, check this.
    %SystemRoot%\Debug\Dcpromoui.log


    Did the netdiag and dcdiag tell you anything?
    WIP: CCENT/CCNA (.....probably)
  • chrisknightchrisknight Member Posts: 7 ■□□□□□□□□□
    ...and the outcome? (Just Curious)
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